Garbage Baby: A Fan Awakens

I recently announced my impending Star Wars fan zine...and the day has come where it's officially released! Introducing Garbage Baby: A Fan Awakens

 If you'd told me a year and a half ago that I'd be releasing a Star Wars fan zine in 2019, I would have LAUGHED. At that point in my life I'd seen exactly one (1) Star Wars movie. Oh, how things have changed.

 Garbage Baby: A Fan Awakens is saddle stitch bound with EDGY RED staples, because of course it is.

WHITE PEARL SHIMMER CARDSTOCK COVER? Why not! Only the best for GARBAGE BABY.
Now here's what you really came for: more previews.

 

Available now! Buy a physical copy on Etsy (or from me in person - I'll be at Camden Comic Con in a few weeks) or download the PDF on Gumroad.

Another Star Wars Mini-Comic

(You can't tell me Ben Solo's crybaby sensitive boy face isn't why he wears that mask.)

Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Fan Art Round 2

Wow, I got a pretty favorable response to that last fan art post! Thank you! Because I am absolute garbage, here's another mini-comic.

Whoops

It's kind of a spiritual sister to a really old (~2009) self-insert fan art I did of Labyrinth.

Gotta Love MS Paint!

Star Wars Fan Art

So, I finally watched Star Wars. And like, I really like the new ones so far. Kylo Ren is my new garbage baby. A little spoilery if you haven't seen The Last Jedi.

Regency Babes

So I mentioned in my Bianyo Brush Markers review post, that I'd purchased some more skin tones from Bianyo and a set from Art-n-Fly. Here I am, using my marker collection together in all its glory to draw some regency babes!

I adore both mens' and womens' regency fashions. I knew I wanted to draw a variety of ladies to test my new tones on, so this is what I came up with. Who is your favorite? Mine is the lady in the blue dress. The blonde girl closest to the bottom is flustered because everyone else is in fancy dresses, and she's in pajamas!

Also, yes that is Pride and Prejudice 2005 fan art in the corner

I got so caught up in drawing the lovely ladies that I forgot to note which markers I used for what....oops! So I'll have an upcoming post with more about the skin color sets I purchased.

Bianyo Brush Marker Review - Part 1

So I mentioned in passing recently that I bought my first Copic markers. Using them taught me that my alcohol marker collection was sorely lacking in the brush nibs department.

I was planning to buy myself a big set of Copic Ciao markers. I had the set all picked out, and I shopped around looking for a good deal. I unfortunately just missed a huge sale from MarkerPOP. I was all ready to bite the bullet and make the purchase when my good friend Rachel sent me a terrific (belated) birthday/Xmas package in the mail! She included some of her unwanted markers, including some Prismacolors and Mepxy brush markers. And I was pleasantly surprised by the Mepxy markers! The brush was nice and they worked just as well as all my other, more expensive markers. I was about to drop around $250 on a set of Ciao markers, when I would probably be just as happy with some cheaper alternatives markers? Had a lost my mind?

So without  further ado, let me introduce you to my new markers.

They're Bianyo's Brush Markers, a set of 72. They're twin-type markers with a chisel and brush tip, just like the Ciao markers. And I have to say, the quality of the brush tip is virtually identical to the Copics. The size and feel is the same. No complaints there at all.

I made a little index for myself, because the printed colors and the cap colors are almost never accurate to the actual ink color, and this rings true for every single marker I've ever tried, so I don't hold that against them. Some of the colors are actually pretty close, but a few are way off. Most noticeably, the Warm Grey 0 appears to be a peachy skin tone instead of an actual grey. I actually kind of appreciate this, since greys are otherwise well accounted for in this set. And considering that this grey is included in their separate set of skin colors I think this was not a mistake. Another "off" color is the Chartreuse, which is way darker than I would have expected.

This is a large set of markers, and includes some fantastic colors. I wish there were more peach colors. Baby Skin Pink and Warm Grey 0 are so close in color that you can hardly tell them apart, and there's not really any other colors close enough to shade either color with if you'd like to use them for skin. And I wish there were some nicer pink options. There are also a lot of dark, vivid purples and violets, but not much in the way of lavender or pale shades to blend them with.

They do sell a separate set of skin colors, which would hopefully solve the lack of light pink and peach shades. But upon closer inspection, I saw that around half of the markers in that set are repeated in this one! The others don't seem to be available individually, which is terribly lame. It seems there's only a few odd markers outside of this set. It makes me wonder why they didn't just expand this set to include their entire collection. I was really bummed - but it didn't stop me from ordering that skin tone set today. We'll see how I like it in Part 2 of my Bianyo review.

Anyway, here's some doodles I made with these markers!

Jungle Foliage

Snake

Dancers from the movie Xanadu

 I did use my Copic skin tones to color the gentleman with the hat and to shade the lady on the right's skin, because none of the Bianyo suited the dancers I was drawing.

'Tangle Me Olmo' is a joke based a hilarious off-brand marionette-puppet I found online

Raya

The quality of the markers is fantastic. The ink is smooth and vibrant. The nibs are a pleasure. All of them appear nice and juicy. I cannot express enough how happy I am with them!

Pros

• Cheap (Less than $100 for a set of 72)
• Quality brush nib
• Smooth, vibrant ink
• Comes in a nice package with a magnetized top that flips into a stand
• Decent color selection
• Work nicely with other alcohol markers
• Available on Amazon 

Cons

• Cannot be refilled (at least I don't see any refills available)
• Lacking in the pink/peach/lavender department  
• Confusing (arbitrary?) numbering system
• Caps do not fit into the ends of the markers while in use

Color Comparison - Prismacolor, Bianyo, Copic

I picked out the most similar colors I could find that I had in all three brands. I settled with these ones. The Prismacolor definitely lays down the smoothest, but the colors aren't as appealing. The brown is less saturated than the others. The Bianyo markers are very lovely! Nice and saturated and smooth, but not quite as smooth as Prismacolor. The Copics are beautiful colors, but the ink lays down an almost mottled appearance. This may be the paper that I use, but I've heard other people complain of similar problems with blotchy ink too.

Out of the three, the Bianyo markers are probably my favorites. The colors are very appealing, and they lay down nicely. Overall I'm very pleased with this new addition to my collection. I wish I'd found them earlier!

From Mr. Rusty to Mr. Darcy - Doodle Collection

We had the most charming, handsome old pug boarding at my workplace last month. His tongue hangs out of his mouth 90% of the time. He absolutely stole my heart. This dog literally developed a fan club out of my coworkers. I drew his owner a picture of him to go home with him, but unfortunately a friend picked him up for her, so I didn't get to see her reaction! I LOVE YOU MR. RUSTY.

Also, I'm a huge, huge Pride and Prejudice nerd. Like, to an unreasonable, unhealthy degree. Of course I've got some Pride and Prejudice doodles!

This Elizabeth Bennet here is based on the 1995 Pride and Prejudice's Jennifer Ehle. I drew this several months ago for an unfinished button design, but wasn't happy with it. I like her a lot now, though!

And here we have Fitzwilliam Darcy, clearly based on 1995's Colin Firth. Or at least I hope it's clear! This one's more recent, from just a few days ago. I got some Copic Ciao markers, my first time using Copic products. I also used some Prismacolors and other various markers to fill in for colors I didn't have, since I only bought the Ciao skin pack.

Gold waistcoats are my favorite! I absolutely adore Regency fashion, especially regency menswear. I think it's because the fashion is very equestrian in nature, and I find that very appealing. And I adore the movie Labyrinth, and Jareth's style of dress also appears very Regency-inspired.

Despite the two P&P 1995 fan doodles, I actually prefer the 2005 movie version. They're both excellent adaptations (I don't care what anyone says!) and sure the 1995 version is more book-accurate (aside from the lake scene) but the 2005 version has Matthew MacFadyen. How can you compete with that? It will always have a special place in my heart.

Sailor Saturn Bracelet and thank you note

Sailor Bracelet SALE

I didn't make it into the Otakon 2016 Artist Alley, so I decided to offer up some of my display pieces for a discount over on my Etsy shop. These are the exact bracelets I've photographed for my listing images! Styles are limited, so act fast if your favorite scout is still available.

$20.00 Plus Shipping! 

As with all of my Etsy orders, they ship with a thank you drawing.

WIP Sailor Saturn ATC

WIP - Sailor Saturn ATC

A Work in progress. I just ordered some more markers late last week, and I think they'll really help me out when it comes to this. So I'm trying to wait for them to get here!

Sailor Saturn was always my favorite as a kid. 

Sulking Tamaki

I doodled this for fun and cut it out paper child style. I hid it at the Poison and Antidote booth at Otakon, and my sister Maria said that a lot of people pointed it out and liked it! Haha.

ATC Round 3

#5 - "Bob the Squirrel"

#21 - "Darling Deerling"

#16 - "Mystery Skulls: Lewis"

More ATCs. Two fanart, one original. Bob is a squirrel I've been drawing for years. I started drawing him back in middle school. He has a female counterpart named Gina looks identical.

Funny side story: I used to dish out faux-advice for my middle school friends in something we called Ask Dr. Squirrel. I'd give out awful advice in the guise of a cartoon squirrel in response to prompts put in an envelope.

Jigglypuff

After I had to euthanize my first horse, Jezebel, I was very sad. I was unemployed and miserable. I drew this one day to cheer myself up. Jigglypuff has always been my favorite pokemon! I used a bunch of techniques: watercolor pencil, art marker, colored pencil, cheap crayola markers, etc.

ATCs Round 2

#11 "Blorpy Princess"

 Blorpy Princess I drew for my friend Rachel. She's based on her kitty, Leela.

#13 - "Sylveon"

I drew Sylveon because I really like the color scheme and design of this pokemon. This is one of my favorite ATC yet. I used it to make a button and a postcard print, I liked it so much. Buttons, prints, and even this original ATC are going to be available at Otakon's last day tomorrow. Table P-11!

#10 "Pretty Nurse Penicillin"

Pretty Nurse Penicillin is a character of mine from a magical nurse RPG I've been on/off working on. There's a demo of an early version floating around, if you'd like to google it. I am working on a new and improved version, but it'll take some time. Check back here for updates. Tune in tomorrow for more on Penicillin!

ATCs Round 1

Here's some of my ATCs!

#1 "Spike" 

#6 "Mini Moon"

#7 "Ruze"

 Spike there is the first one that I did. So you can blame him for the inundation of ATCs.

I really like Chibiusa. I think she's probably the cutest senshi, and I think that's kind of funny now. I totally hated her as a kid!

Ruze is an OC of mine. More on her later.

 The finished copies all have a number and my signature on them, but I scanned these ones before I got around to that. The next batch of scanned cards will all have that visible.

They'll be at Otakon next week, P-11 in the Artist Alley!

Buttons, Buttons, Everywhere!

Here's some stuff I've been working on.

Pixel Buttons

Wreck-It Ralph Fanart Buttons

Sailor Moon Buttons

Jigglypuffs and Pearly Stardust

Which is your favorite? I think mine's the pixel cupcake or pixel mouse. They'll be available at Otakon next week, table P-11!